Cut and pasted from my blog:
I went to Vegas back in Nov 2005 for the Rescue Competition. It was only the 2nd time I went on an airplane. I was wearing a NYC*EMS Medic shirt, and on the way out there, I was sleeping (somewhat) when I heard a stewardess ask “Is there a doctor or a nurse or someone with medical training onboard?” I reached up looking for the call button, identified myself, and was brought to the back of the plane. Come to find a 28 y/o female disabled Marine, hyperventilating. Well you see, what happened was, her cane fell out of the overhead compartment and landed on her head, giving her head and neck pain. No biggie, except for the fact she was hyperventilating so much, that her arms and hands cramped up. So even after about 20 minutes of her on a non-rebreather w/o O2, she still couldn’t break it, and someone else (NOT ME!) made the decision to land. And on the descent, she went unconscious. 4 times. So we landed in Indianapolis and offloaded her. There was also an EMT on the plane who was assisting me. Either way, there was no slowing this lady's breathing down. I never talked to a doctor, and someone else made the decision to land. Not me.
I think next time I'll just roll over.